


contacts, context

by ChocoChex



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista! Johnny, Boys In Love, Cafe AU, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love, Jeffrey Jung has returned, JohnJae - Freeform, M/M, Mark annoys Johnny lol, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Singer! Jaehyun, Some angst, Taeyong is MIA for the most part, Yuta is sneaky, a side of mark/haechan if you squint, how do I even tag this..., johnny is blind as a bat, johnny wears glasses but then he doesn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23296630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocoChex/pseuds/ChocoChex
Summary: Johnny Suh needs to remember to wear his damn glasses.Jaehyun should probably have mentioned that he's the famous singer Jeffrey Jung right from the start.A series of coincidences.That's it.orJohnny is a fan of Jeffrey Jung's music and doesn't realise that the man that has been visiting the cafe is said singer because he's never wearing his glasses and he's blind without them.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lee Taeyong/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 48
Kudos: 267





	contacts, context

_ “So whenever you ask me again _

_ How I feel _

_ Please remember _

_ My answer is you _

_ 먼 길을 다시 돌아간다 해도 _

_ 난 여전히 같은 맘일 테니까 _

_ We'll be alright _

_ I want to try again” _

-

Johnny Suh needs to get himself some fucking contacts, he’s going to burn his hands at this rate with all his blind-estimation. He can’t go on like this, his boss Yuta has already threatened to fire him, even though he knows the man doesn’t actually mean it (if anything he needs more staff when people like Taeyong disappear constantly.) He shakes his head & squints as he steams the milk for his customer’s cappuccino, trying not to accidentally scald himself in the process. 

The thing is, Johnny has glasses, he wears his rimmed spectacles, almost, everywhere. The catch is, though, he is also the most forgetful person on the planet when it comes to himself, it’s a wonder that he can even remember drink orders. He always forgets something or other & more often than not, it’s his damned glasses. You would think needing to see would warrant him remembering to wear them but no, he still forgets them. 

Mark, one of the bakers at the cafe, always chides Johnny for being scatterbrained & he does it again because today is one of those days where Johnny half stumbles into the Neo Cafe without his damned glasses. 

“I’m buying you contacts. That’s it, that’s going to be your birthday present.” Mark calls from the back decidedly.

Johnny pretends not to hear the younger man & gets right to work. It’s not that Johnny doesn’t want to wear his glasses, it’s just that he’s forgetful. It’s gotten to the point that he’s just gotten used to just feeling for things rather than looking for them to make up for his forgetfulness; he can get around his house just fine without his glasses anyway. That logic can’t necessarily apply to the outside world but Johnny seems to like to try his luck regardless. 

Whatever, it’s just another day added to the ever growing tally of “Times Johnny Suh Forgets His Glasses” that the employees have in the back. Donghyuck wanders behind the screen to add a check to the board before sticking his head back out & grinning at Johnny who can’t really see him but he can guess what the younger looks like anyway. 

-

Making coffee is like clockwork to Johnny, so even without his glasses, he can still make a perfectly good latte with a couple squiggly hearts for his beloved customers with little to no errors. They don’t get hoards of people coming in but they have their dedicated following for a little prismatic cafe tucked away in a hidden nook, away from the main crowds of people. Those who have been fortunate enough to stumble upon the Neo Cafe always become firm followers & they never fail to return. 

This doesn’t change with their latest customer. 

The blue-haired man all but crashes into the cafe, leaning against the door, breathing heavily. He looks out into the street, then breathes a sigh of relief & sags against the doorframe. 

“Rough day?” Mark calls from behind the register. He always does this, greeting whoever comes in. It’s his way of charming people to stay & it always works, see: the man straightens & smiles back. 

“Something like that.” He chuckles & takes a look around the place as he makes his way to the counter.

“A drink will probably be in order then, to you know, take the edge off a little.” Mark hints, beaming at the taller newcomer. The man smiles & scans the menu. 

“Yeah, I think so. Give me a second to look?” He hums & Mark chirps back approvingly before flitting over to finish up a smoothie that had been blending. In Mark’s absence, Johnny slides over & mans the register. He can’t really see the man but he can roughly picture him staring at the menu above his head. 

“Can I suggest a drink?” He pipes up, offering a smile that he hopes is friendly when he sees the shape of the man before him shift a little to maybe face him. It’s quiet for a second & Johnny feels slightly awkward because he is  _ sure _ the stranger is staring at him. After a beat though, he gets a response. 

“Sure, I think that’d be good.” The man laughs. He has a stunning laugh, Johnny notes, then turns to face the menu. He remembers that he can’t see it as he does so & smacks himself on the head. He doesn’t see the man raise an eyebrow at him in response. 

“Well, okay, since I can’t read the damn menu, I’ll suggest going for an iced Americano if you want to taste our coffee, which has a nutty flavour. But if you’re going to be here a while, I would say get a latte. With coconut water. It undercuts the flavour nicely & you can nurse it for a while.” 

The man hums, contemplating for a moment before he decides on the latte. “I think I’ll stay a while, this place seems nice enough to warrant it.” 

Johnny smiles at the comment. “Well we definitely try to make it somewhere that our customers will want to stay for a while, give it that sort of futuristic vibe that’ll make you feel inspired & such.” Or at least that’s what Yuta says. 

The man hums & then pays for his order, shuffling to the side. 

“I hope you’ll give me more of a reason to stay then.” He seems to angle his head towards Johnny, implying that if the coffee is good, he will most definitely be coming back & the taller man grins, already vowing to ensure that this man becomes a recurring customer. 

“What’s your name?” He asks as he starts making the man’s drink.

At first, he thinks the man doesn’t hear him because of the long pause, but then the man clears his throat & replies, “Ah, it’s Jaehyun.” 

“Oh, you’re Korean?” 

“Um, yeah!” 

“That’s cool, so am I!” 

“Really?” This time the question comes in Korean & Johnny almost spills the milk he’s pouring because apart from his parents & some of his friends, most of the people around him don’t speak the language. 

“Yeah! It’s been a while since I’ve met another Korean. I mean, we have Donghyuck & Mark technically is Korean but his Korean is terrible so I haven’t really spoken in Korean in a long time.” Johnny looks up from the latte art he’s just finished & smiles at the man shaped blob. The man laughs in response & Johnny slides his latte over to him. 

“Maybe I’ll come back more often then, so that you’ll have someone to talk to, Johnny-ssi.” He notes, reading Johnny’s nametag.

Johnny has to bite back a laugh so he holds up a hand in a gesture for Jaehyun to wait as he pops over to the display rack. He pulls out a slice of pie & plates it for the man. 

“On the house, to go with the latte. More reasons for you to come back again.” Johnny says smoothly & Jaehyun chuckles, taking both his drink & plate in hand. 

“Thanks Johnny.” He says in English this time as he moves away & not long after Mark flits over, peeping over Johnny’s shoulder. 

“Huh, I didn’t realise you could turn into Mr Charming without your glasses.” 

“Yeah, that’s cause I can’t see him Mark. No fear of being awkward.” 

“You do know who that is though, right?” 

Johnny shrugs, uncaring in that moment, “Sure I do Mark, sure I do.” 

-

Johnny doesn’t see Jaehyun for at least another week. There’s a song by Jeffrey Jung playing softly from the speakers when the Korean man finally returns. He doesn’t look as flustered this time. In fact, he looks perfectly groomed & his blue hair has faded to a dark turquoise in the time since his last visit.

Johnny had control of the playlist that day, being the earliest in for work. Yuta’s policy is that if you’re the first, you get to choose the music for the day & Johnny takes every opportunity he gets to play his music (which is not many since he’s regularly late for work.) 

Mark always sulks when Johnny gets to choose mainly because Johnny’s playlist is mostly filled with songs by Jeffey Jung. He loves the singer’s music & while Mark can understand why, with how good the man sounds, he gets sick of hearing the same songs over & over again. So yes, he kicks up a fuss like a five year old & stays in the back baking so that he can avoid the music. Donghyuck never seems to mind since Johnny doesn’t get to choose often & Yuta doesn’t care so Johnny never bothers to listen to Mark’s complaints. If anything, he teases the shorter man even more. 

It’s no different when Jaehyun walks in. Johnny has just come out front but his face is covered in flour & his glasses are sticky with dough. He pulls them off & dusts his face, blearily blinking as he sees Jaehyun’s form approaching. 

“Woah, what happened to you?” Jaehyun asks in Korean, quirking up a brow that Johnny most definitely cannot see. 

“Ah, Jaehyun! You’re back!” Johnny smiles & dusts more flour off of himself. He squints at the man to try & see him more clearly but without his glasses, he’s just as blind as the last time. 

“Yeah,” Jaehyun chuckles, “I am.” The man makes a wobbly gesture at Johnny as if to ask him for an explanation regarding his dishevelled state. 

“Mark’s just unhappy with my music taste. He never likes it when I play Jeffrey Jung at the cafe. He says it’s too philosophical & his head hurts. But I like Jung’s music. He’s onto something, that man & he’s got a wicked voice too, so Mark can suck it.” Johnny rambles & then notices a silence has settled. They always seem to deal with awkward silences, the two of them. 

“So you’re a fan of Jeffrey Jung, I take it.” Jaehyun says slowly. Johnny nods blearily, rubbing some leftover flour out of his eye. 

“If I ever met the guy, I wouldn’t know what to thank him for first, I think,” Johnny laughs, a little darkly, before straightening up & returning to his cheery self. 

“You probably don’t wanna hear about that so enough of the boring stuff, do you want what you got the last time?” He asks coolly instead. Another silence follows & Johnny’s hand hovers over the register awkwardly. 

“Yeah. Sure.” 

Johnny freezes at how clipped Jaehyun sounds & then slowly punches in his order. He doesn’t know what just happened, the other man suddenly seems disjointed from him. 

He pulls away to make the drink, trying not to read too much into it when Jaehyun speaks up.

“You were wearing glasses when I came in, what happened to them?” 

Johnny stops tapping the coffee powder & looks in Jaehyun’s general direction, blinking. 

“Mark threw a wad of dough at my face, hence the flour. It got all over my glasses so I can’t see shit. Better to just deal with cleaning them later.” He replies nonchalantly. 

Yet another prolonged silence. These were starting to get on Johnny’s nerves. He’s about to say something, anything, when Jaehyun laughs a little. 

“So you can’t see anything without your glasses?” He asked in lieu of a follow-up.

“I can’t see much, but I can get by. Like, I can see the coffee cups in front of my hands but I can’t see you.” Johnny says, matter-of-fact-ly, waving his hand at Jaehyun & the man lets out a surprised sound. 

He doesn’t say anything other than a quick thank you after that when Johnny slides him his latte & he moves away to sit. 

How curious.

(When Mark comes out front to deposit his bakes, Jeffrey Jung’s “White Night” is playing & he’s trying not to roll his eyes. Then he notices the blue haired - turquoise now - musician is back in the cafe & he all but groans. “Johnny, you are an absolute embarrassment to this establishment,” he moans, fleeing to the back in a flourish & leaving a poor confused Johnny in his wake.)

-

Donghyuck supposes it starts like this. Jeffrey Jung becomes a regular at their tiny cafe & somehow, they’ve all just taken that in their stride. The other customers tend to not pay him any mind, with the exception of the occasional fangirl that will approach him quietly for an autograph. If anyone were to ask the staff why he kept coming back, they’d play dumb & say it was the coffee with a cheeky wink. But Donghyuck knows, just as well as Yuta & Mark & hell even Taeyong who only ever shows up for work maybe twice a month much to Yuta’s dismay, that the singer keeps coming back to the Neo Cafe for one, Johnny Suh. 

Johnny himself is oblivious to this because he doesn’t seem to realise that the singer he so loves is visiting the cafe more & more frequently, & particularly, only during his shifts too. Donghyuck puts that down to both Johnny’s insanely coincidental luck that he’s never wearing his glasses around the man & that he’s as blind as a bat without them. The universe has to be messing with his hyung, he thinks, this had been going on for three whole months & Johnny still hadn’t realised. 

It ended up becoming a bet, to see how long it would take for Jeffrey, or as Johnny knew him, Jaehyun, to make a move. Yuta never approved of staffroom bets but he had chipped in this time, confidently stating that the man wouldn’t wait much longer. Donghyuck couldn’t understand why their boss seemed so convinced but he didn’t question it, simply putting down his bet, that the poor singer would pine for a good few more months at least. 

It was funny to watch them interact. Johnny almost never held such smooth conversations with any other customer, let alone a celebrity. He was all gangly limbs & his quietly cheeky self when he had his glasses on & he could see who he was talking to, staff excluded. Mark never failed to tease him about this & Donghyuck would laugh & chime in because it was true. It was like Jaehyun made Johnny glow with confidence & it was always riveting to see them talk. Jaehyun had the biggest heart-eyes that anyone could see & Johnny would pull out that cat-like smile that he only reserved for the younger man as they chit-chatted in Korean. 

Donghyuck tried not to eavesdrop but Mark would always pester him to translate (he should really get the boy to learn the language properly) & he was always subjected to Mark’s puppy eyes & whining, “Hyuckieeee.” So he’d tune in & he was surprised to find that their conversations were not as trivial as they looked on the outside. One time, he caught them discussing the limits of love & another time they were discussing politics of all things. It was mildly insane, but the way Jaehyun seemed to relax around his hyung was enough for Donghyuck to not question it. 

They looked happy, that was good enough, surely?

-

“How is it that every time he’s in, you’re never wearing your glasses?” Taeyong asks one day, when he actually shows up for work. Yuta rolled his eyes when he saw the other man, who simply flashed him an unabashed grin & got to work. If Johnny didn’t know better, he’d think Yuta had a soft spot for the college student. (Johnny didn’t know better.)

“Coincidence, I guess?” Johnny hums in reply & turns to swipe a carton of milk from the other end of the counter. Taeyong looks at him skeptically but Johnny misses it, too engrossed in the drink he’s making (let’s face it, he’s too blind to see Taeyong’s face anyway.) 

“Really. You mean you just happen to be blind whenever he comes around? You sure you’re not doing it on purpose?” The younger man questions & Johnny freezes for the first time that day. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m not breaking my glasses on purpose Taeyong.” He almost snaps back before he catches himself & ducks his head, busying himself again. 

Taeyong makes no comment after that, the subject seemed like a sensitive one after all.

  
  
  


-

It’s not that Johnny doesn’t want to see Jaehyun. He thinks that’s actually the thing that he wants to do the most. He wants to see the face that the beautiful voice belongs to. He wants to be able to see if Jaehyun’s face scrunches up when he laughs, whether or not he has dimples, the colour of his eyes… 

He’s just a little bit scared, is all. Sure, seeing Jaehyun could be great, he’d finally be able to put a face to the man he’s gotten to know over the past few months (& who makes his heart beat faster even though he refuses to admit it), but he’s afraid his charming front will fall the moment he sees him. 

He’s always been a little shy & awkward, especially if his mind already settles on an image for the person that he’s talking to, always placing them out of his league. All sense of bravado & charm dissipates if he sees a cute smile & while it seems silly, Johnny’s friends would know that he’s the best version of himself when he can’t see other people because there’s no lingering need to impress people when he can’t see them & size them up for himself. Instead he relies on all his other senses & they give him a different picture of the people he interacts with, one that is manageable & less daunting. First impressions are important, for sure, but Johnny prefers them to not be someone’s appearance.

So no, it’s not that Johnny doesn’t wanna see Jaehyun, it’s more that he’s scared that once he does, he won’t be able to continue talking to him like they have for the past few months. He wouldn’t put it past himself & his nerves at all, to flounder around the man if he is as ethereal as he sounds.

The last thing he wants is to ruin whatever this  _ thing _ between them is. It’s too good of a thing to lose.

-

When Jaehyun had stumbled upon the Neo Cafe, it had been completely unintentional. He had just been looking for a place to hide from the fans that had been trailing him. Ever since he started going international with his music & touring, he realised the fans were a little more inclined to sniff him out on his days off & he didn’t always have his staff around to give him a little security. He wanted it that way, to feel a little normal instead of how they would box him in back home in Korea, but while he wasn’t as huge as some idols like Eric or Dean, he had already experienced his fair share of the international fans & as much as he loved them, he had been hoping to have more room to breathe abroad, away from both his team & the fans. 

Needless to say, he had ducked into the first hiding spot he could find & it so happened to be the Neo Cafe. He had been quite stumped by the place when he finally got to take it in, in all its yellow & red hues with a bit of a retro prismatic vibe to it. It was unique to say the least & even without the friendly staff, he would have considered revisiting the space. 

The coffee made him stay though. (Liar.) They made a mean latte. 

_ Johnny _ , made a mean latte. 

Johnny. The lanky, beautiful man behind the counter that couldn’t actually see Jaehyun clearly. He had impulsively given his Korean name to the man on their first meeting & he didn’t regret it, after discovering that Johnny was in fact a fan of his. 

Initially, he had been worried, but upon realising how indifferent the staff seemed to his idol status & how Johnny really seemed oblivious to his stardom, he’d grown to love the place as well as the people there. His interactions with Johnny were the highlights of his weeks & he was thankful that he was based in Chicago if only to be able to keep seeing the gorgeous man with the adorable smile. 

Jaehyun wanted to kiss those cupid bow lips. The thought scared him, especially considering the fragility of the circumstances surrounding their friendship. He didn’t know what would happen the day Johnny finally actually saw him. Would he freak out? Would it mean the end of this friendship as they go back to being a fan & an idol? 

He could only hope that it wouldn’t change anything because, as much as Jaehyun frantically tried to deny it, he was smitten with the other man. 

What a terrifying thought. 

-

Mark actually follows through & buys Johnny contacts for his birthday. A whole six months worth of contacts & he all but threatens the older man to use them or “So help me god, Johnny, I will stick my fingers in your eyes & put them on for you myself!” 

Yuta seconds this motion & Johnny resists pouting at his boss helplessly. He thanks Mark still & the younger man seems satisfied, albeit suspicious as he fistbumps Donghyuck when he thinks Johnny isn’t looking. 

Yuta decided to take them all out for dinner to celebrate because sometimes, Yuta can be spontaneous & tonight is one of those nights. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Taeyong is coming along too. (It has absolutely everything to do with this, because Taeyong showed up for work claiming he didn’t want Johnny to work on his “damn birthday man!” so “Go home & let me cover your shift already!”) 

It’s both the single most amount of fun that Johnny has had in a long time (he can see everything that happens because he wore out the contacts that Mark got him) & also the most hopeless drunken escapade as they go bar hopping after dinner. Yuta & Taeyong get shitfaced & start making out, Mark & Donghyuck get cuddly when they’re drunk & somehow Johnny, the birthday boy, is the only sober man in the situation. He’s left with hundreds of photos to blackmail the other four with by the end of the night & also a hole in his wallet for paying for all of their cab fares to get them home safe. 

If Johnny feels a little cold & alone after he leaves, he shakes it off & forces his thoughts away from a certain blue-haired someone as he makes his way home. 

-

Johnny is working on Valentine’s day. Mainly because Yuta finally got his shit together & asked Taeyong out, leaving Johnny in charge of the cafe. It’s not like Johnny had anything planned anyway & Mark teases him endlessly about it. 

“Oh yeah? So does that mean that you asked Hyuckie out?” Johnny replies back snarkily & that shuts the younger man up as he blushes furiously & makes up an excuse about scones in the oven. Johnny resists the urge to roll his eyes as he dries down a couple of mugs, turning back to scan the cafe. He’s started wearing his contacts to work & while he admits it’s nice to not see a blur of colour anymore, he still largely relies on his muscle memory & familiarity with the space rather than his actual sight to get his work done because being able to see people clearly now makes for more stunted conversations with customers as his awkwardness returns. 

It’s a relief that they hired a new part-timer to man the register so Johnny doesn’t have to actively make conversation with customers as often now. Doyoung, Taeyong’s classmate, is godsend & he’s great with the customers. Johnny feels mostly relieved that he can just hide in the corner & work on the drinks in relative peace. 

So when Jaehyun enters, Johnny’s back is turned & he hears the man before he sees him. 

“Johnny hyung! Happy belated birthday!” in loud, Korean words. 

Johnny spins around at the familiar voice & startles upon making eye-contact with Jaehyun, dropping the carton of milk he had been holding on the floor. 

“Oh, you’re Jeffrey Jung!” Doyoung says, visibly surprised & Jaehyun falters a little at the comment. 

Johnny is tensed against the counter, his eyes now ducking away from Jaehyun’s as he tries to compose himself.

“Hyung?” 

Johnny can’t bring himself to look up. He figures the man has walked over to the counter & all Johnny can do is try to fucking breathe. 

He can’t. 

The man he’s been talking to for the past few months, the man he’s befriended & the man that he’s maybe started to like is _ the _ Jeffrey Jung. 

He can’t wrap his head around it & right now, being able to see the gorgeous man in front of him - his hair is grey now - he feels inadequate & impossibly small even though he’s half a head taller than the younger man. 

“I, I need a break.” Johnny manages & all but flees to the back, leaving a very confused Doyoung & a stricken Jaehyun alone out front. 

He doesn’t even notice that Jaehyun is carrying flowers. 

-

“Are you a friend of Johnny’s?” Doyoung asks the man sitting before him. Jaehyun had ordered his drink, for lack of anything better to do, & had decided to take a seat in front of the counter.

“Something like that.” Jaehyun replied quietly. The latte sits untouched in front of him & he seems downcast. “I come here often.” 

“Ah, then you’ll probably know the rest too. I’m new, my name’s Doyoung.” The barista sticks out a hand for the man to shake & Jaehyun takes it politely. “Jaehyun,” he says & Doyoung simply takes the different name in his stride. Just as he’s about to ask another question, Mark comes barreling out from the back & his eyes meet Jaehyun’s. 

“He was wearing contacts today.” Mark says by way of explaining & Jaehyun sucks in a breath. Doyoung, clueless as to what is going on, chimes in, “You mean Johnny doesn’t normally wear contacts?” 

Mark frowns slightly at the older man & looks between him & the singer sitting moodily across the counter. “No, he has glasses but he tends to forget them a lot so he just looks how he does today normally. Except he usually can’t see clearly.” 

“He saw me.” Jaehyun cuts in, his voice soft. Mark looks at the older man sadly, noticing the flowers that sit on the counter beside his untouched coffee. “What do I do?” 

Mark swallows, unsure of how to help, so he gives the only piece of advice he deems suitable. 

“Give him time, you didn’t exactly let on about your identity either & he’s probably just anxious about how to talk to you now.” 

Jaehyun visibly deflates at this but he nods his head. He knows he purposefully hadn’t mentioned anything about his identity because he wanted to preserve the little bubble he had constructed with Johnny, so he’s as much to blame for this mess as Johnny is with his forgetfulness & his godforsaken short-sightedness. 

He just wishes that maybe this confrontation wouldn’t have to happen so soon, & on his birthday of all days. He had been hoping to surprise Johnny & ask him out for dinner, finally plucking up the courage to face his feelings & look how things turned out. 

Mark seems to take pity on him & pats his shoulder. “I’ll make sure he gets these, don’t worry hyung.” He takes the flowers gently & offers Jaehyun a reassuring smile. Jaehyun smiles feebly in return & hopes that Johnny will come around. 

-

Jaehyun doesn’t come back for a while. It makes sense, the man has to go on tour, he is a singer after all. It would be silly to think they could keep up with their banter forever & Johnny tries not to be heartbroken over the incident. He hadn’t been able to get over the shock in time. 

He had so much to tell Jeffrey but now Jaehyun & Jeffrey were the same person & he didn’t know what to do. How could he tell Jaehyun that his music had helped Johnny through so many rough times, that his music had been instrumental in his life, a key factor in him coming into his own as a person? He’d moved out of his parents place to Jeffrey’s Superhuman, had come out to his family with Love Me Now… It shouldn’t be so difficult but now that the two personas had merged, Johnny struggled to fit his image of Jaehyun together. He fell for the other’s music first & now, here he was, head over heels for the man but unable to face him because he had only ever been able to talk to him when he couldn’t see him. 

When he had finally seen him, he’d taken Johnny’s breath away. 

Then the realisation had hit & the anxiety doubled & all he could do was panic. 

Because now he knew that  _ Jaehyun knew _ that he was a mess for his music, & nothing could be more embarrassing than that. 

Johnny started wearing his glasses after that day. He started making himself remember to wear them because he didn’t want to run into a situation like this ever again. If he had to stutter through the conversations then so be it, but he didn’t ever want to feel such embarrassment again. He couldn’t live it down. 

Mark noticed that Johnny’s playlists were now rid of Jaehyun’s music. His friend was hurting & he didn’t know how to help. He’d given Johnny the flowers after Jaehyun had left on Valentine’s Day & Johnny had broken down, crumpling the flowers weakly against his chest. 

“His birthday is on Valentine’s, why would he come visit…” The taller man had sniffed. 

Johnny could be really dense sometimes but it hadn’t been the right moment to tell him that & Mark could only wrap his hyung in a hug, unsure of how else to comfort him. 

-

Summer came & went & Johnny learned to live without Jaehyun’s music, unable to listen to the man’s voice without regret surging up in his throat in a nauseating wave. 

He learned to move on, but deep down he knew he would never find a spark like his & Jaehyun’s ever again. His coworkers could see right through his charade of a “I’m fine guys” but they didn’t press him to talk about it. Some things were better left untouched. 

Until fall came. 

Johnny was cleaning the counter & preparing for closing when Taeyong walked in. He had stopped working at the cafe, Doyoung now replacing him permanently, & had come to pick up Yuta. 

Johnny smiled at the younger man as Yuta came out from the back & greeted his boyfriend with a kiss, stifling a small pang of jealousy in his gut at their embrace when suddenly Yuta spun around to face him. 

“I sent you an email, check it after closing would you?” He says mysteriously before letting Taeyong whisk him away, winking at Johnny as they left. 

Johnny, being the curious person that he was, paused his cleaning to check the email. 

There was no reason to stifle his gasp since the cafe was empty except for him & the sound echoed quietly in the space.

_ DEAR YUTA,  _

_ We’ve never really talked but I didn’t know how else to contact Johnny so I figured I’d try the cafe email.  _

_ I’ve attached something for him here, would you pass it on to him for me? It would mean a great deal.  _

_ Thanks,  _

_ Jeffrey Jung.  _

And below that, there was an audio file labelled “Try Again”. 

Johnny held his breath & hesitated before opening it. 

_ “ _ _ 우리가 나눈 _

_ 긴 시간만큼 늘어난 기대는 _

_ 어쩌면 당연할지도 몰라 _

_ 수많은 외침도 _

_ 서로의 맘엔 닿지 못한 채 _

_ 그렇게 흘러가기도 했지만”  _

_ “As much as we _

_ Spent time together _

_ Our expectations were too high _

_ Maybe that’s just natural _

_ Even though we shouted out countless times _

_ Without it ever reaching each other”  _

Johnny let’s the lyrics flow through him & he holds back a sob as the song ends. He expects that to be it, a beautiful song, in Korean at that, for him, but it isn’t. 

_ “Hey Johnny.”  _

Johnny chokes up upon hearing the recording. 

_ “I hope you like the song, it’ll be out in a few months but I wanted you to hear it first, because it’s for you. I miss you. So so much.”  _

Johnny’s crouched behind the counter now, arms wrapped around his long limbs as he buries his face in his knees, the tears soaking through his jeans. 

_ “I want you to know that I don’t mind that you’re a fan of my music. I thought I would’ve, at first, but you have such a pure soul & good intentions, it hardly matters because it’s endearing more than anything now. I miss talking to you, I miss your laugh, I miss having you smile at me. I just want you to know that, I was & still am ridiculously in love with you. I was going to ask you out on my birthday, but well, things happened.”  _

Johnny tilts his head back to rest against the cabinet, sinking to the floor bonelessly. 

_ “I’m so glad we got to talk like we did & that I got to know you. I hope that maybe you feel the same way that I do & I hope that me being who I am doesn’t change that, because I am hopelessly hung up on you Johnny Suh. I doubt this feeling will ever fade. That’s all.”  _

The recording ends & Johnny scrubs his face with one hand. He’s smiling, heart aching in his chest, but he’s smiling. 

He’s been  _ so incredibly dumb _ . 

-

After that, Johnny’s mood improves considerably. Mark, Donghyuck & Doyoung don’t know what’s up but Yuta gives Johnny a knowing smile when he sees him again & claps him lightly on the shoulder. 

Johnny still doesn’t play Jaehyun’s song at work when he gets to pick the music, but when he’s alone, he plays it & then he listens to Jaehyun’s voice at night when he can’t sleep. 

He misses the singer but he’s okay, he can settle for this. 

That is, until Jaehyun steps into the Neo Cafe one chilly autumn day. 

Johnny is manning the register & he looks up to meet the singer’s eyes when he enters. 

“Hey there.” Jaehyun breathes shakily in Korean. He’s in a tan coat, a white turtleneck & black jeans & boots. He looks like he’s stepped right out of one of those Korean dramas. 

Johnny’s face breaks out in a stunning grin. 

“Hey. “ 

Jaehyun steps further inside, slowly. 

“You’re wearing your glasses.” 

“Yeah, yeah I am.” 

“So you can see me?” 

There’s so much more underlying Jaehyun’s question.  _ Do you see me? Will you accept me?  _

Johnny’s hand slides idly across the counter as Jaehyun comes to a stop in front of him. 

“Yeah, I see you.” 

Jaehyun takes his hand, finally allowing himself to smile. 

Something stirs in Johnny’s chest at the sight of Jaehyun’s smile, dimples & all. He can finally appreciate the other man’s looks & it’s safe to say that his face is a perfect match with his gentle voice.

He thinks that maybe this time around, they’ll do just fine. 

“Let’s try this again then, shall we?”

“Let’s.”

-

(Rest assured, Mark is most definitely not filming the whole thing & Donghyuck is most definitely not fist pumping excitedly in the back.) 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> My first NCT work! I love their dynamic and I just wanted to play around with this idea because Johnny in glasses is adorable. Also Try Again is such a beautiful song. 
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter @midnight_voice uwu


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